Today at 9.30am we said our final farewell to a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend - we will all miss you. Ron was born in Nantymoel near Bridgend in Wales to Dylis and Ron, he was the eldest of 5 children. He moved to Bristol as young child and remained in Bristol thereafter. Ron’s school reports always praised his practical skills and so it was no surprise that he eventually became a builder following in his fathers footsteps. At 17 Ron joined the Royal Engineers in the army and spent most of his time in Germany. Those that knew him would frequently hear of his exploits and achievements. He left the army at 20 having finished his apprenticeship, returning to civi street and the building trade. In his late twenties he met and fell in love with the love of his life Mary and he married his sweetheart within a year. There were plenty who questioned at the time whether their marriage would last due to the age difference but Ron and Mary certainly allayed all those fears after they recently celebrated their 56 wedding anniversary shortly before he passed. Ron was delighted with the arrival of his son Martin within a year of being married followed 2.5 years later by his daughter Theresa. Ron worked all around bristol, he built churches, Bristol university hall of residence and even the huge chimney for the then printing works at Paulton - now sadly demolished. He took great pride in his work and even built his younger brothers home and workshop. Ron was loving family, hard working man and occasionally work took him away from his young family so he decided to set up his own business and became his own boss in his 30’s which continued until he retired. Sometimes on a Saturday Ron would take a young 12yr old Martin to work with him (there wasn’t such Health & Safety restrictions then) on one occasion Martin brought home a huge pile of wood and built a rabbit hutch and on other occasions after work they would sometimes go to the social club and if Martin was really good he would be allowed to play a few shots on the snooker table. Ron was a keen snooker player at the time and played in the league in both staple hill and North Bristol Social Club winning many trophy’s. He continued playing although not in the league until his late 70’s. Despite all his hard work, Ron still found time for another of his joys, his garden, he would spend many hours in the garden and he loved nothing more than to make toy guns and bows and arrows out of wood with his grandsons and then play cowboys and Indians in the garden with their weapons of choice. When the granddaughters arrived a few years later more gentile games were played in the garden. Life was a joy for Ron, he adored his wife, his children, his grandchildren but more than that Ron loved life. Not many a day would go by when he would say at least once ‘ that was the best ever’ best ever meal, best ever house, best ever garden everything at least one time was the best ever. He was extremely proud of both Martin & Theresa for their work ethic, achievements and their lovely families. He would always say that he was such a lucky man. In later years Ron experienced the joy of coaching holidays with Mary’s family. He throughly enjoyed the sights of Scotland, Yorkshire, Cumbria and North Wales each one being the best he had ever been on! We remember Ron not with the illness and the pain he suffered but for his generosity his commitment, steadfastness, his love for his family and most of all his love for life. One of life’s true gentleman